Imagination,
incidentally, according to Orwellian standard advertising speak, is
simply a psychological process that produces fantasies. Imagination,
in this view is concerned with things that do not exist.
Ergo, anyone who claims that subliminal or semi-subliminal advertising
exists is fantasizing.

As
indicated above, this is an inaccurate viewpoint and should be dismissed
as nonsense, yet it is a seemingly effective 'put-down' that has worked
for the past 3 decades or more. Even were there some truth in the 'put-down'
it is far too simplistic. In terms of making sense of adverts,
imagination is best considered as one aspect of the processes used to
help make sense of ambivalent sensory input. As indicated above, there
is no meaning to anything that is simply seen. You, the
viewer, have to work at making sense of the sensory input that is received
by the visual system and the brain every time you look at an advert,
image or object and even the words on your computer screen. And,
because you are attempting to make sense of ambiguous, continually changing,
sensory input it is possible to 'guess wrongly' or be misled by visual
illusions.

The
definition of imagination given in the Penguin Dictionary of Psychology
is "The process
of recombining memories of past experiences and previously formed images
into novel constructions." That is, imagination is treated
as creative and constructive. It may be primarily wishful or largely
reality-bound or it may involve future plans and projections or be mental
'reviews' of the past. Often qualifiers are appended to the core
concept for clarity; e.g. anticipatory imagination for the
future, reproductive imagination for the past, creative
imagination for the novel, etc."

This
is no place to go in depth into the various psychological processes
related to the workings of the visual system, attention, memory and
perception. Readers interested in more information should consult
any of the textbooks listed in the bibliography.
Yet it is the processes of the visual system, attention, memory and
perception that turn the light impacting on the eye into perceptual
constructs that we are consciously aware of and lead to claims that
we can 'see' what things are. Without the use of 'imagination'
to help make sense of the world, each and every one of us would be in
pretty much the same state as a blind person who recovers their sight
late in life. Such individuals only perceive a very fuzzy and confused
'image' of the world. They do not have the ability to recognize
objects and people because they have never learned to 'make sense' of
the light input into the eye.

Seeing,
in other words, is not an automatic process. Seeing is the outcome of
a lifelong period of learning. Viewers of ads and other images have
to learn to make sense of ambiguous or ambivalent cues whether or not
the the ads contain semi-subliminal images. When ambiguous stimuli are
presented to a person or the stimuli are on the borderline of their
perceptual threshold, viewers have to rely upon their experiences and
their predisposition's to help them make sense of what they are seeing.
Ambiguous stimuli can involve inappropriately placed words, incomplete
images or images that bear no relationship to an overall ad, distorted
figures and images with two or more meanings. Such is the stuff
of manipulative and semi-subliminal
advertising.

Imagination
is as good a word as any to indicate the type of selection process that
attempts to select the correct interpretation from a great many possibilities.
Is a line indicating a letter or is it the side of someone's face?
If such a line were broken by a shadow the decision would be even more
fraught with uncertainty. Yet this is what each and every one of us
is doing every time we view something.

Where
advertising is concerned it may even be that where images are on the
borderline of perceptual ability we can sometimes perceive an image,
on other occasions we may not.
Visual capabilities vary depending upon our emotional and physical state
- sometimes we are fatigued, other times full of beans. Semi-subliminal
advertising may therefore contain elements that can sometimes be perceived
yet on other times cannot be perceived, even although the ad is just
the same. secondary imagery thus has some of the characteristics
of the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland. Sometimes its all there,
other times it's not.

In
attempts to make sense of the sensory input from ads containing ambiguous
secondary imagery an individual has to unconsciously 'run through'
a number of possibilities to determine the 'real' meaning.
If this process raises thoughts associated with
unpleasant experiences it may trigger fears and anxieties. If
the experience is completely unique then new memories may develop.
However, in most instances, with adult viewers, it is probably the interaction
between what a viewer already knows and the ambiguous or ambivalent
information in ads that allow semi-subliminal ads to make their impact,
if any. Each viewer thus makes sense
of what has been seen in terms of their own experience. Theoretical
views on the origins of these processes and how they operate differ.
However, all researchers would agree that responses to adverts are not
simply automatic responses to visual cues.

It
is not only academics who carry out reseach into how the perceptual
processes of the ordinary individual function, advertisers also carry
out a lot of research into the values, interests, activities and lifestyles
of their potential customers. In other words, when they produce
ads, they 'play' to what they already know about their clients.
Consumers who smoke and drink, for example, are generally known to be
more anxious than the average person. Many of them make use of
cigarettes or alcohol as means of keeping their emotions under control.
This is an unfortunate outcome arising from learning that occurred in
adolescence.

Despite
the reseach conclusions it is probable that these individuals are not
inherently more anxious than the average person. It is more likely that
these individuals learned early in life that nicotine or alcohol could
help them control their feelings. Using drugs of any sort to control
their feelings meant that they did not develop more natural or mature
forms of emotional control. This leads into a vicious circle. Subsequent
'need' for nicotine or alcohol arises from the physiological need that
their body has developed. They thus need additional use of their preferred
drug when they feel anxious, depressed or whatever. Yet it is the lack
of the drug that causes the feelings of need in the first place. The
vicious cycle continues unless the dependency need can be broken.

Had
they not become early users of cigarettes or alcohol then they would
not be in the position of 'doing without' and feeling bad, edgy or anxious
as a result. The initial use of chemical aids to control mood changes
are of course encouraged, indirectly, by advertising that promotes products
containing these drugs and presenting them as eminently socially acceptable
(and harmless and without any undesirable side effects).

When
advertising makes use only of imagery to promote tobacco and alcohol
products it helps to prevent the establishing of a state of emotional
equilibrium in adolescents, young adults and even mature adults.
Without the provision of information no individual in our society has
the capacity to make a reasoned judgement, especially about long term
outcomes. Ultimately, by the time individuals learn that the means of
managing their emotions is a dose of addictive drugs, a sizeable proportion
of each cohort of individuals have become dependent upon nicotine or
alcohol.

Socially
acceptable and life enhancing imagery is the chosen means for promoting
most cigarettes and alcohol brands, though there are a few exceptions
as is indicated below. Yet lying underneath
the glossy imagery of all the major brands is a truer reflection of
the motivating factors underlying cigarette smoking and excessive drinking.
The semi-subliminal elements incorporated into ads for these products
seem calculated to enhance natural avoidance tendencies or to associate
the products with fears and anxieties when they are not plugging an
association between sex and the brand. The author has yet to find any
semi-subliminal ad that promotes a positive feeling (with one possible
cheerful exception) or a message in tune with personal or social development.
The success of semi-subliminal advertising, as judged from the point
of view of those who produce the products, relies upon viewers of their
ads making use of their Imagination. But the imagination of their customers
has and is often distorted by semi-subliminal content so that their
is an enhancement of negative, depressive and anxiety provoking elements.

There
is little one can ad to this analysis where products other than those
for cigarettes and alcoholic drinks are concerned. Imagination is needed
to make sense of what is seemingly a basic obsession with sexuality
in all it guises and this is capitalized upon by most semi-subliminal
advertising. It is rare for any deeper, theoretical, elements to inform
semi-subliminal advertising*. For this we perhaps ought to be grateful.
If it were possible to extend semi-subliminal and other manipulative
advertising into realms that were far removed from basic motivational
drives and emotions then it would be much more difficult to determine
what was occurring. Additionally, it would make current moves into using
truly subliminal advertising on the Internet much more worrying.

* For a rare example, apparently based on knowledge
of attachment theory and adolescent sexual behaviour, see the discussion
of a series of ads for NatWest
bank.

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